Closure
by Peeniss0314
Summary: Just a little one-shot I wrote after watching The Angels Take Manhattan. Follows my headcanon and is meant to give me a bit of closure about the events that occurred. It's been exactly a year since Brian last heard from Rory or Amy. Continuing his travels, he finds himself in Manhattan, New York. What he learns here is enough to cripple any man.


_Author's note: _

_Hey there. I've never actually written any kind of story before, so forgive me if this was horrible. This originally wasn't planned on being published. This is just something I wrote to give myself a bit of closure after watching The Angels Take Manhattan last night. It was written extremely quickly, and only proofread by myself. _

_It basically follows my headcanon of how Brian comes to find out what happened to Rory and Amy. It's a one-shot that won't be continued, and I don't particularly like it._

_If you read it, leave a note I suppose and let me know how it was._

_Disclaimer - I do not own or have any rights to the Doctor Who series, franchise, or title. This was written merely to calm the emotions I was having after viewing an episode. _

* * *

Three hundred sixty-five days. That's how long it had been since Brian Williams last heard from his son Rory, or his daughter-in-law Amy. He never thought much of the long periods without contact from them, as he knew they were always having some astounding, galvanizing adventure with the Doctor.

As for Brian, he was busy these days himself. Ever since the exhilarating experience he had with the Doctor and his companions on board the Silurian Ark, he was spending as much time as he could travelling. He had already visited many areas of interest; Rio de Janeiro, Pisa, Italy, the Taj Mahal in India, Machu Picchu in Peru, you name it. If it was a historical site that often had many tourists, chances are Brian had visit it at least once.

What Brian did not know, however, was that his next trip would be his last.

* * *

He had just settled into his hotel room in Lower Manhattan when he decided to take a walk. Brian made it a bit of a ritual to take a pleasurable stroll whenever he reached his destination. It allowed him to familiarize himself with the locals, pick up on the culture of the area, and find which buildings and monuments to visit throughout his stay. He had just learned of a tour taking place the next day through the Statue of Liberty when his eye caught something.

Excusing himself from the polite tour guide he walked across the road – only after checking to make sure no cars were driving past – and through the threshold to the Trinity Church Cemetery.

He was sure it was just his vision, degrading with age. For what he thought he was observing was a young, raggedy man, standing over a stone tombstone, weeping.

_Surely that isn't the Doctor. Why would he be standing here, in a cemetery, all alone on a beautiful day? _Brian thought to himself. _Where's the TARDIS at? It would be nice to see Amy and Rory again after such a long time. Perhaps they got my telephone message and decided to drop in and surprise me. They really are great. _

"Doctor? Doctor, is that you?" Brian asked while approaching the man timidly, not wanting to intrude or interrupt if it happened to be someone else wearing a brown suit.

Slowly, the man straightened himself up and turned. What Brian saw was anything but a sight for sore eyes – the Doctor, clearly disheveled, eyes swollen and red from weeping, standing alone above a tombstone.

"Hello, Brian. It's lovely seeing you still travelling and taking world tours," the Doctor said, "what brings you to Manhattan?"

Brian resisted the urge to peer over the shoulder of the tall, slender figure standing in front of him to view the name that splayed the tombstone. If the Doctor was mourning a loss, it was his own private affair and affected him in no way.

"I decided to come visit New York. The Big Apple, as they call it. See one of the acclaimed Broadway shows and see how it compares to West End, take a tour of Ellis Island and see the names of the many who left their homes and their families to attempt and start anew, and, as of five minutes ago, to take a tour of that wonderful work of art there." Brian pointed to the tall, green statue, only miles away from where they were standing. "Ever since I began travelling, I've always wanted to visit the Statue. It still amazes me how such a thing could be built way back when."

The Doctor didn't have the strength to respond to him. He merely stifled a sob and nodded his head, in an approving fashion.

"Doctor, I don't mean to be intrusive or insensitive at all, but what brings you to a cemetery in Manhattan? And where are Rory and Amy? Surely if they knew you were coming to mourn the loss of someone they would have come along for moral support. And on that note, if you don't mind me asking, exactly who are you mourning? I've never seen you look so distraught." Brian, ever the father, attempted to be comforting in his word choice while attempting to find where his son and daughter-in-law were.

"Oh, yes. Well, no. Actually, I'm here alone, Brian. In Manhattan alone, mourning alone… All alone. I have been for quite some time now," was the Doctor's response. He didn't have the willpower to directly answer Brian's questions yet, so he attempted to bide some time to figure how he would break the news that his only son and daughter-in-law were dead. Dead, names splayed on the tombstone directly behind where they were currently conversing.

"Don't be ridiculous, Doctor. Of course you aren't alone. You have Rory, and Amy. Where exactly are they? It's been about a year since I last heard from them. What exciting adventures have you three gone on since our last interaction?"

"Brian, I want you to know that I am so, so very sorry. I did all that I could. They even created a paradox, they were able to reverse everyth –"

"What are you rambling about, Doctor? Where are Rory and Amy? And who exactly are you here mourning all alone? I know for a fact Rory has more compassion than to let someone come and do such a thing alone," Brian cut off the man's monologue and stepped aside to read the names on the tombstone.

What he saw nearly caused his heart to stop.

"What – what is this, Doctor?" Brian asked, as he began to tremble. Surely this was all just some joke, right? Any moment now, his son would be jumping from behind some tree yelling 'Surprise!' along with his fiery red-head of a wife.

"As I said, Brian, I am so, so sorry. It was the Angels – not that you know what they are. I tried my absolute hardest to save them. They created a paradox and reversed the events, destroying all of the angels in the process. But one made it out. Just one, but it was enough. We were in this very spot when it occurred. Rory turned his back and was touched. I begged Amy to stay, but she would have none of it. She kept saying that her place was with Rory, and that everything would be okay so long as they were together. They went together, the way it always should have been."

"So you're saying this really is there… But it can't be. It isn't. Stop whatever joke you're playing now, Doctor. This isn't them. Where are they? Rory? Amy? You guys can come out now, this isn't the least bit comedic."

Now Brian's patience was wearing thin. First, he doesn't hear from his children for nearly a year, exactly a year to be specific, and then he comes to take another tour and sees the Doctor acting as if they had departed, and now, he's even standing over a tombstone that reads both of their names.

The Doctor placed his hand on the quickly angering senior's shoulder and merely said, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry."

"What? You're lying. You must be. You said you would protect them. You promised you would bring them home safe. Explain yourself, Doctor! Where is Rory?"

"When Rory turned his back on the angel, he was close enough to be touched. He was transported back into the past. Amy kept saying she couldn't fathom being without him. That they needed to be together. That her place was with Rory. I begged her to stay, I didn't want to lose any, let alone both of them to the angels. She blinked, and when she did the angel also transported her back to the past where she could be with Rory."

"But you promised! You said you would get them back safely! I told them to go with you! I gave them my blessing!"

"I'm sorry. If there was anything else I could have done, any other way to save them, I would have. There was just no way."

"This is my fault. I sent them with you. I told them to go. They would have been perfectly safe and fine back in Leadworth, but I told them to go with you. I condemned the very last of my family to this."

"It isn't your fault, Brian. If anyone's, it's mine. I was beginning to get too reckless with them. We had been together for such a long time, and they had faired so well, I was beginning to get overconfident. None of this wouldn't have happened if not for me interfering with their lives." A single tear rolled down the Doctor's cheek as he spoke these words. He was attempting to gauge Brian's reaction, and try to console the man in any way possible.

"No. No. This isn't permanent. This can be undone. You're a Time Lord. You have the TARDIS. You can travel back to that moment and save them. You can save them, and none of this would have ever happened. Why haven't you done it sooner? We can save them, Doctor. We have to, he's my son."

"I can't, Brian. The events that occurred that day are a fixed point. When we were all on the roof of Winter's Quay, Rory was willing to jump. He had already died in one point in time in the building, and was willing to die a second. He believed doing so would create a paradox, erasing what had happened, and protecting Amy. Amy refused to let him go alone, and so they jumped, wrapped in each other's arms, off of the roof. They created a paradox. A paradox is a fixed point. There's nothing I can do to reverse this."

"You're a Time Lord. You can go back in time. You can fix this all. Please, Doctor, fix this and get my boy and Amy back."

"I can't undo a fixed point Brian, I'm sorry."

"But he's my son. She's my daughter. This can't happen to them. What did they ever do? Change it, Doctor. Go back to the point before they jumped off of the roof and bring them back. Just bring my boy back to me Doctor, now." Brian demanded. His words came out with difficulty, alternating between a huff of anger at the Doctor's insistence that he could not reverse the situation, and with the gasps of air he was taking whilst trying to keep composure and not cry.

"There's nothing I can do, Brian. I'm sorry."

"I simply don't understand Doctor, if we go back to the moment when they –" The arguing man was cut off by a sob from the Doctor.

"There's nothing I can do, Brian! I can't bring them back! Don't you think I would have by now? Do you think I _like_ knowing I'm responsible for their deaths? This isn't something I take pleasure in!"

Brian stopped for a moment, grief overtaking him. If there truly was nothing the Doctor could do than that meant… That meant he would never see his son again. Never hear his voice, or his laughter that undoubtedly was always caused by his fiery red-head love who was always at his side. He would never see Amy again. The strong-willed, fierce woman his son had been in love with ever since he was a child. He would never see either of them again.

He tried to think back on the last time he spoke to either of them. Tried to remember what his final words were, to make sure they knew they were both loved.

"How long?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long has it been, Doctor? How long has it been since…" he drifted off, not emotionally strong enough to complete his question.

"A year ago, today. It's been exactly one year."

"Then that means…"

"The last time you spoke to either of them, was the day that they both… I am so, so sorry, Brian."

Brian attempted to comprehend what was being said. Exactly one year ago, on the very last day that he spoke to them, heard their voices, both his son and his son's wife were essentially killed.

"But I don't understand, Doctor. This stone reads as if they were elderly. I may be aging, but I know for a fact Rory was not 82, and Amy not 87 a year ago."

"When they were touched by the Angels, they were transported back into the past where they lived the remainder of their lives. They grew up together, lived their lives together, and died together, Brian. Their love was strong enough to create a paradox and save us all. There love survived Weeping Angels, and kept them together until the very last moment of their lives."

This information had very little effect to tame the mourning that Brian was experiencing, but it did help console him a bit about their final years.

"Together?" He asked.

"Together," the Doctor replied, "always together."

"They were the very last family that I had. I only had the two of the left. Now I'm all alone… Now I have no one," Brian lamented. He now felt nearly crippled by the weight that was placed on his shoulders. He had lost the very last family members that he had. He no longer had his only son, and his daughter-in-love went directly behind him.

"Now, I wouldn't say that." Came an unfamiliar voice from just behind them.

"And who are you? What might you have to know about any of this?" Brian asked, impatiently. He had lost so much in such a short span of time. In the past fifteen minutes his life had been turned absolutely upside down, and he had no part of Rory or Amy to remember. Having strangers make insensitive comments towards him only fueled both the anger and grief he was feeling at the moment.

"Brian, this is someone very important. This, is River Song," the Doctor interjected.

"Hello sweetie," came River's response, "Or should I say, Grandfather?"


End file.
